Biography
A Pacific Northwest rock outfit, Morning Reign built a strong regional following across their six-year existence from the middle 1960s into the early 1970s. The group began by covering contemporary garage-rock numbers before shifting to self-penned songs that moved from the melodic side of 1960s garage into psychedelic territory, occasionally colored by early progressive-rock touches and brief horn accents supplied by Gene Heliker and Larry Sieber. Although the band issued just four 45s while active, two later archival collections appeared: the 2018 release Can't Get Enough Of It, which gathered demos and scarce studio takes, and 2022’s Taking Cover, compiled from tracks cut for Garland Records.
The group’s history opened in Salem, Oregon, in 1966 when Ric Seaberg, already experienced from high-school bands in Portland, encountered Gene Heliker at a Willamette University orientation. The pair quickly decided to start a band, with Seaberg handling lead vocals and guitar and Heliker taking lead guitar; they soon added fellow students Craig Chastain on rhythm guitar and Doug Heatherington on bass, then completed the first lineup with Bob Baker on keyboards and Bill Thomas on drums. Rehearsals took place in a fraternity-house basement, and their initial public performance occurred at a dance in the Willamette gymnasium. Within months they were performing regularly in Salem and throughout the Pacific Northwest. After Bill Thomas departed, Tom Hallman briefly filled the drum chair before Howard Holland assumed the role. This configuration, now among the region’s most popular acts, released its debut single in 1968—“Please Stop” backed with “Say It Once Again,” both written by Seaberg and Heliker. That summer the band appeared on the Dick Clark–executive-produced series Happening ’68, a televised battle-of-the-bands program that aired after American Bandstand; although they did not win, the exposure connected them with industry figures who recognized their potential. They next signed with the Oregon label Garland Records, which in 1969 issued two singles of cover material: “Everybody” backed with “But It’s Alright” and “Any Way You Want Me” backed with “Reach Out I’ll Be There.”
Rising demand led to shared bills with the Doors, Three Dog Night, Vanilla Fudge, the Turtles, the Guess Who, and the Spencer Davis Group. In 1970 a single appeared on T-A Records, distributed by Bell Records under the Columbia Pictures umbrella—“Can I Believe In You” backed with “Tomorrow Morning’s Love.” By then Baker and Holland had exited, replaced by keyboardist Larry Sieber and drummer Jay Steven Tate, both formerly of the Salem band Tyme. The group continued writing and demoing original material yet never secured funding for a full-length album, and the members parted ways in 1972. Their reputation endured locally; in 2018 the German archival imprint Perfect.Toy Records issued Can't Get Enough Of It, a seventeen-track set of previously unheard recordings, most of them originals. Four years later Sundazed Records released Taking Cover, drawn from the Garland sessions.
The group’s history opened in Salem, Oregon, in 1966 when Ric Seaberg, already experienced from high-school bands in Portland, encountered Gene Heliker at a Willamette University orientation. The pair quickly decided to start a band, with Seaberg handling lead vocals and guitar and Heliker taking lead guitar; they soon added fellow students Craig Chastain on rhythm guitar and Doug Heatherington on bass, then completed the first lineup with Bob Baker on keyboards and Bill Thomas on drums. Rehearsals took place in a fraternity-house basement, and their initial public performance occurred at a dance in the Willamette gymnasium. Within months they were performing regularly in Salem and throughout the Pacific Northwest. After Bill Thomas departed, Tom Hallman briefly filled the drum chair before Howard Holland assumed the role. This configuration, now among the region’s most popular acts, released its debut single in 1968—“Please Stop” backed with “Say It Once Again,” both written by Seaberg and Heliker. That summer the band appeared on the Dick Clark–executive-produced series Happening ’68, a televised battle-of-the-bands program that aired after American Bandstand; although they did not win, the exposure connected them with industry figures who recognized their potential. They next signed with the Oregon label Garland Records, which in 1969 issued two singles of cover material: “Everybody” backed with “But It’s Alright” and “Any Way You Want Me” backed with “Reach Out I’ll Be There.”
Rising demand led to shared bills with the Doors, Three Dog Night, Vanilla Fudge, the Turtles, the Guess Who, and the Spencer Davis Group. In 1970 a single appeared on T-A Records, distributed by Bell Records under the Columbia Pictures umbrella—“Can I Believe In You” backed with “Tomorrow Morning’s Love.” By then Baker and Holland had exited, replaced by keyboardist Larry Sieber and drummer Jay Steven Tate, both formerly of the Salem band Tyme. The group continued writing and demoing original material yet never secured funding for a full-length album, and the members parted ways in 1972. Their reputation endured locally; in 2018 the German archival imprint Perfect.Toy Records issued Can't Get Enough Of It, a seventeen-track set of previously unheard recordings, most of them originals. Four years later Sundazed Records released Taking Cover, drawn from the Garland sessions.
Albums
Singles